'This is not a paraphrase, strictly speaking, but rather a 'montagement' (montage plus arrangement); not a free fantasy on the melodies in Verdi's Aida, but instead an attempt to rewrite a few fitting themes as accurately as possible (retaining the essentials and making many painful omissions, Saint Giuseppe, forgive...) and then put back together so as to make such musical-dramaturgical sense that they fairly sing and ring despite all the losses when played by an accomplished string quartet' (Thomas Rabenschlag).